My Only Escape
by xlessthan3heartx
Summary: Eli Goldsworthy is just a local diner boy, working to get by. Clare Edwards is the basket case, the rebel, the one who can't be saved. In a school like Degrassi, rumors spread fast. But Eli and Clare can't stop fate.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey, this is a story I did on Wattpad but I'm just changing it to Degrassi-esque. Enjoy, lovely people!**_

_**Yeah, I don't own Degrassi, but neither does Brendon Urie.**_

"_Just a day, just an ordinary day, just trying to get by…" –Ordinary Day, Vanessa Carlton _

Zoom in on the protagonist, washing dishes in the back of a shady diner with flickering lights so it's no longer called _Local Diner_, but _Loca Din r_. So, it's only obvious that to this washed-up town, it's known as the Loca Diner. A completely truthful nickname, really. Considering that the boss is…well, crazy. In the simplest of senses. He has a bald head, so shiny that sometimes you can see your reflection staring back at you. He has bulging eyes, on you like a hawk as if he's forever judging you, which maybe he is. When he gets angry, his neck veins bulge like they're just dying to break out of his skin, the thin barrier between the world and their prison. Much like our hero, our protagonist; trapped but dying to break free. Just wishing, hoping, praying that something can break that skin, let his wall crash down so he can see the world, and _live, _for once. He sure didn't think that the girl who pushed open the diner's door would be just that, the one who could break the barrier. He wouldn't have noticed her at all, really, if it wasn't for her attire: a black t-shirt that advertised the phrase: _"Question Authority"_, hot pink skinny jeans and black Chucks. He discarded her in his mind, throwing her out of his head. Just another cliché wannabe rebellious chick. But still, he couldn't help but listen in on her order: "Coffee, black." Not 'black coffee', not 'can I please have a black coffee?' It wasn't a question, or a favor; it was a demand. A demand that she expected to be met, as quickly as her heart desires. No matter the other customers, screw them. No, _she _needed what _she _wanted, her only. It wasn't as if it surprised him, he had seen her around school. She challenged the most intimidating of bullies, stood up to the strictest of teachers, even once dumping her lunch tray on a guy who had budged in front of her to pay. Or, that was the rumor, anyway. She never confirmed or denied these rumors, just smirked lightly and stalked off when being questioned about them. Then, there was the mystery of her grades. She always made honor roll, yet it was rare to see her sitting in class, much less learning. She was a mystery herself. A prospect of speculation for the students of Washbury high school. Everything she did was questionable.

For the next two weeks, she showed up at that exact same diner, that exact stool, that exact time. The time when she came, he came to look forward to. Something stable, permanent in his ever-changing life. And God knows, life did change for him. Too fast, for his liking. But her…she was in his daily schedule, like she was written everyday in his plan book in permanent marker, '_the girl comes to the Loco Diner'. _Other daily customers looked at her strangely. She wasn't one to stick around, for anything. Relationships, school, parties; she was always moving. Maybe it was what she liked, or maybe it was just something she had to do. But the strangest part about it all was that she always ordered the exact same thing (black coffee), in the exact same tone (demanding), with the exact same phrase ("Coffee, black."). It was almost involuntary for her; she didn't have to think, for once. It was a nice break for her to not think about what she would say. She had to do it so much, even if it didn't seem so. It was all the same, until that one day. She came in, like always. The bell chimed when she walked in, like always. He smiled a bit to himself hearing her shoes squeak on the linoleum floor, like always. But, then. What was different? It took him a minute. The diner was eerily quiet. _That was it. _She didn't order black coffee. She didn't speak. He could hear the sound of the sponge hitting the dishes, the splash of the plate into the sink filled with water. He almost automatically looked toward the place she usually sat. No one else would have noticed it. No one, but him. He had a tendency to do that, notice the littlest of things. Like the way his best friend wore the same color socks every Friday. Or the way the cliché high school bully always looked one way, then the other, then the other way again before pounding a kid. Or, in this case, the way that the girl sat two seats away from her normal red stool. He also noticed her expression—somber. She locked eyes with him, for less than a second. In those eyes, in that moment, he saw _so much. _He saw hurt, anger, confusion. But then, in a second, it was gone. She moved over two seats, and said, "Coffee, black." It seemed some invisible force in the air had vanished, like in the moment she walked in, everything changed; and now it was back to the normal diner that he had grown accustomed to. Everything was okay. Well, to all the customers who were looking at her, almost expectantly, awaiting her normal words laced with attitude, it was. But it was obvious to him that she wasn't okay. Not in the slightest. But, still she drank her coffee as always. _She's good at hiding_, he thought as he wiped his yellow rubber gloves on the stained white apron he was adorning. She got up, as always and slammed her money on the table, a sound that was familiar to his ears. And then…before turning on her heel, she locked eyes with him once again (this time intentionally) and gave him the smallest of smiles. It was just a smile, really. Nothing special. Just a perfect—in his eyes—pair of lips curving at the mouth; it could go unnoticed to someone inattentive. But not to him. To him, it was special. And he was right, it _was _special. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the day his life changed forever and where our story _really _begins.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hola, muchachos. Um, yeah. Second chapter. Like it? Dislike it? Have a love-hate relationship with it? Tell me in a review! I don't own Degrassi, nor do I own the amazing song that is The Best Thing. Um, yeah. Yup. Enjoy, lovelies. **

"My, my, Clare Edwards," he spoke swiftly; craftily. "I haven't seen you in years." His voice was just as she remembered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, taking a step backward.

"Just coming to check up on you. Can't a father visit a daughter?" He smiled sickly. She _felt _sick.

"No," she told him calmly, although she wanted to scream. "Not when that daughter doesn't want to see that father. Get out of here." With every step she took back, he took one forward. She was trapped; she couldn't escape. Her back hit a cool wall, and she knew he had won, yet again.

"I have the right," he told her, "And _you _can't do a thing about it." He smiled again. She wanted to puke.

"You don't even want to see me." It wasn't a question, it was a realization. "You just want to make me suffer. You're sick." Her voice faltered; she was giving up.

"Hm, maybe. But court doesn't know that. They just know that I have a right to visitation." His smile was never gone from his lips.

"Please, leave," she begged. "I…why can't you just _leave me alone_?" She asked, exasperated. He glanced over her shoulder, and then locked eyes with her. The smile was gone.

"Fine, I'm gone. But, mark my words, I'll be back. You can bet on that." He left quickly, without a second look back at the daughter he had broken so many years ago. It wasn't until she saw the police car turning the corner that she realized that was why he had left. She sighed, shaking her head, cursing her father under her breath. She didn't even realize where she was going until she got there: the diner. She was there every day for the past few weeks and it was something she could actually look forward to. It was a motivation for her. A motivation for what exactly, though? To see the bus boy who she found so intriguing? To drink coffee and just _sit _for once, to relax? She had no idea. Maybe it was a mix of both of those things, but whatever it was; she found it nice, refreshing. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts of her jerk of a father, she didn't even realize the reason the whole diner had went quiet was because of _her. _She hadn't sat in her normal seat, and didn't order quite yet. She smirked internally, knowing that something _she _did affected people so much. A hush had fallen over the diner, and everything was still. She looked around for a moment at all the customers looking at her. Then she smiled, slid over two seats, and ordered her black coffee. She felt triumphant, like she had restored order in the diner. She felt accomplished. In euphoria of confidence, she met eyes with the mysterious bus boy. Blue crashed with jade, like stars crashing together. It was a nanosecond of eye contact, maybe less. But, she felt like he was _seeing _her, really seeing her. Like he was looking at her and realizing how messed up she really was. It made her feel special and uncomfortable at the same time. His green orbs were so intense; she had to look away. She drank her coffee like usual, and tried not to cry, like usual whenever her father came for a 'visit'. She couldn't help but notice, though, that the bus boy kept glancing over at her every few seconds. It made her feel…well, she didn't know how it made her feel. It was a new feeling to her, having a boy even _glance _her way. Well, if it wasn't to push her around and tease her.

Right before she left, she gave the boy the smallest of smiles. Something that spoke more words than any sentence ever could.

"'_Cause when I looked into your eyes, and you dared to stare right back, you should've said, 'Nice to meet you, I'm your other half."-The Best Thing, Relient K_


End file.
